February 20, 2010

I think I botched my USD180-IELTS-test up.

*cry*

Well, it might have been linked to the fact that I have spent somewhat a day to prepare for the test. As opposed to some people’s taking preparation class and all that. Well…a girl got a lot to do. Shopping, manicure, pedicure, and of course, the inevitable plant design, research, and piles of assignments to drown oneself in.

When I entered the room I was pumped with hope that the test would be a cakewalk. But as it turns out, I get more and more depressed at the end of each sections. Especially writing. I never like to write with organization. I write just whatever I want, in whatever sequence I feel like. Now I have problem writing academically.

Anyway…aside from the failing part, the test was quite entertaining. Not ‘ha-ha, this is a piece of cake’, obviously. But the people taking the test with me are so hilarious. One quy started to cough at the beginning of the test, which is the listening section, so you see how that might be a problem. And the cough wasn’t the ‘my throat itches, I have to cough’ type, which is usually not loud, but the ‘oh dear, I may be coming down with a bad case of col- OHOK OHOK OHOK’ which is loud. And extremely loud in an exam room where a listening test is going to take place and the noise level is expected to be zero.

And so when the invigilator came back in the room (yes, the invigilator left the room, and some of the participants -girls- started cheating with each other), the guy sitting in front of me said to her, ‘Ma’am, that guy over there keeps coughing.’

And a middle-aged woman sitting in the front added, “Yes, yes. We cannot concentrate with that sort of noise.” She made a gesture with her right hand over her right ear.

The poor coughing guy said to the middle-aged lady, “What am I supposed to do? If I can help it I don’t want to be coughing.”

The lady was unmoved. “Yes, yes. But still, we cannot concentrate.”

“No more noise during the test, okay,” the invigilator said.

And then the listening section is over, laced by a couple of quietened coughs. During the 10 minutes given to transfer the answer to the answer sheet, some of the girls that came together started whispering. It might be an attempt to cheat but it could also be harmless gosip. No one can actually make out what they were saying to each other, but it was not inaudible either.

So again, the very charming guy sitting in front of me said to one of the girls, “You. Hey, you. Yes, you. Try not to speak to your friend there.”

And in came the invigilator.

“What’s this?” she demanded.

The guy readily pointed his finger to Girl#1. “That girl,” he said, “She kept speaking to her friend.”

The invigilator walked to Girl#1’s desk. “This one?”

The guy nodded.

“Which one was she talking to?”

“I don’t know.”

And then, the middle-aged woman, who was busy writing in all those time, spoke, “That one”, pointing the girl sitting diagonally behind Girl#1, in her right. And then she kept on writing.

The invigilator pointed to Girl#2, “This one?”

The woman nodded, but kept writing.

The invigilator was pissed now, “Which one is it now?”

The woman looked up, “Yes, yes, that one,” and pointed to Girl#2.

Then the invigilator moved Girl#1 to the next room. And the test commenced.

Before the reading section began, Girl#2 said aloud, somewhat irritated, “I don’t mind moving, you know. I’d rather move than disturb the people here.” While she was saying that, she eyed the guy sitting in front of me, quite filled with hatred.